It was time to get a new puppy. We'd lost our beloved Candy, a huge black sheepdog, a while ago and our little terrier Splashy needed a friend. My father wanted to get an Alaskan Malamute, so after some searching he found a place with only this breed. They had many puppies ready to go home. So he loaded my older sister and I into the car and off we went.
It was a long ride, but we were excited the entire time. It's not every day you bring home a new puppy. When we finally turned into the drive, we strained to see any dogs wandering the property. We saw a large white Malamute and one with gray down its back, but we didn't see any puppies. Our faces fell and my sister looked up at my father without a word.
Dad parked the car and we went around the house to the back as we'd been told to do. An older man with a black beard peppered with white met us and shook my father's hand.
"Svend?" he asked, wanting to make sure we were who he thought we were.
Dad nodded. "And these are my girls, Vicky and Leigh."
We smiled expectantly and almost giggled as the old man, who introduced himself as Leon, opened the gate behind him and led us through.
There were puppies everywhere. It was the depths of winter, the temperature well below freezing, and the puppies didn't seem to care. They romped and played like they were rolling beside a blazing fire. My older sister noticed some of them wore red collars and asked Leon what that meant.
"You can't have any pup in a red collar," he answered. "Those dogs are going to be sled dogs, and they're either staying here or going to their homes shortly." Leon smiled down at us. "We don't just breed the dogs, we race them. Dogsleds, you understand. You should come out and watch sometime."
"Oh, Daddy, could we?" I squealed. One of the older dogs, one I assumed was a mother, looked at me sideways for making such noise.
"Give us the dates and places and we'll be there." He grabbed Vicky before she could race into the fray and roll in the snow with the pups. "So nothing with a red collar, then. Remember that, girls."
Leon nodded. "These guys are all a little older. Three months and up. They tolerate the cold better, so they can stay out here longer. The younger ones are already back in the house. Let's go in, and if you don't find anything you like, we'll come back out and you can play with these guys a little."
Dad guided us into the house and we followed Leon into a spacious basement. The basement was carpeted, the areas were divided with wire exercise pens. These pens kept the pups in, but allowed the mothers to leave and curl up by the fire. Leon also explained that the adult dogs could go upstairs and out through a doggy door, allowing them to cool off if they got too hot in the house.
"Malamutes get too hot, you understand," he explained. "They can't spend all their time in the house. Though if you have a sun room that's not heated, they'll enjoy that in the winter. In the summer, they need plenty of water and shade. We have kiddie pools for them to cool off."
"We have kiddie pools!" A couple puppies barked at my pitch and my father told me to stop all the squealing.
Leon just smiled. "Put out the pool and fill it with water. When your puppy grows up, he'll lie down in the water to cool off.."
My sister was already wandering the room, looking into each pen at the puppies there. My father watched her carefully and told her not to touch without asking.
"How old are these guys," he asked Leon. His eyes were already on a pure white pup chewing on a toy.
"These are six to twelve weeks. We have some younger, but my wife keeps them upstairs and away from the others." He chuckled. "She babies them and is constantly terrified of them getting sick. They'll come down here when they're six weeks."
"Can I hold one?" Vicky called, having moved considerably closer to the fire than the last time I'd looked at her.
Leon nodded and moved over to her. "Which one did you want to hold, honey?"
Vicky pointed to the little pup staring up at her. This puppy was a little smaller than the others in the pen and looked so lonely. As Leon reached down and lifted the puppy out of the pen, I could see that it had a white belly but a gray head and back. Even the tail was gray. Vicky cuddled the pup to her chest and the pup cuddled right back.
"That's a little girl, six weeks old," Leon explained. "She just came down here yesterday and had her first day outside today."
Dad and I came over. I stroked the puppy's back while Dad rubbed her head. She obviously liked the attention. Her tail was wagging and she was licking Dad's hand and Vicky's face.
"Look, Dad." Vicky turned the puppy's head so Dad could see. "She's got one blue eye, but the other eye is blue and brown."
"Just like her father," Leon chuckled.
"Let's take another look outside," Dad suggested. "I want to see them all before we decide."
Vicky tried to put the pup down, but the little girl clung to her jacket. "Dad, I can't get her off"
Dad tried to help her, but the dog clung with nails and teeth, determined not to be separated. We laughed at little at the puppy's antics.
"Don't worry about it." Leon started to lead us back outside. "She's been in long enough, another few minutes outside won't hurt her. You can carry her if you like."
With a nod an a smile, Vicky followed him outside. We looked around for a while, Dad picked up several pups, but Vicky just clutched the puppy she'd found inside. The little thing would release her coat, so she was stuck holding the pup. Luckily, Vicky didn't seem to mind.
After almost ten minutes, Vicky spoke up. "I want this one." By now the pup was licking and nibbling at her neck. "Actually, I think she wants me."
Dad and I came back to Vicky and looked at the pup again. We fussed for a few minutes before Dad spoke.
"Where are the parents? We need to see the parents before we make a decision on this little one."
"If she won't let go, we have to take her." I was five, and this logic made perfect sense to me.
Leon laughed. "Her mother's inside. Her father ... ah, there he is. Argo! Come, boy!"
A huge dog with a lolling tongue wandered over, taking his sweet time. A puppy chomped at his tail, but Argo just ignored it. He seemed calm and gentle. My Dad knelt to ruffle the thick fur and noted the eyes, which were just like the puppy's.
"He's more brown than gray." Leon patted the dog on the head. "She gets her coloring from her mama. But the eyes are all his."
"And the mother?" Dad was still stroking the dog and seemed reluctant to leave him.
Leon chuckled again. "Let go back in. Mama-dog was sleeping by the fire."
We trooped back in and made our way to the basement. Sure enough, there was still a dog sleeping by the fire. Leon stroked her long back for a moment.
"Mia, time to get up girl."
Mia rose and stretched, surveying us for several minutes. When she'd decided we weren't really intruding, she wandered over and leaned against my dad, anxious for a back rub. Dad liked her immediately.
"The pup will look like her," Leon explained. "They have the same markings."
Dad smiled. "Vicky, try to put the puppy down again."
Vicky tried, she really did, but the puppy was having none of it. She smiled apologetically.
Our father laughed. "Well, I guess I'm not going to get my white dog." He turned to Leon. "How much do I owe you?"
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